MGM to produce Patrick Dempsey drama for Epix

MGM Television, Eagle Pictures and Barbary Films have started production in Montreal, Canada on a ten-part television series starring Patrick Dempsey (pictured).

The series will be produced for MGM-owned Epix, a premium cable network. It is based on a novel by Joël Dicker named The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair.

Starring Dempsey as Harry Quebert, the drama tells the story of a literary icon who suddenly finds himself indicted for murder after the body of a young girl is found buried on his property.

Lyn Greene (Masters of Sex) and Richard Levine wrote the pilot script and several episodes based on an adaptation by director Jean-Jaques Annaud, who is working on his first US television project.

The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair is executive produced by Annaud, Tarak Ben Ammar (Monty Python’s The Life of Brian), Fabio Conversi (The Great Beauty), Greene, and Levine.

The series is produced by MGM and Italy-based Eagle, with MGM serving as the lead studio. MGM’s Lindsay Sloane, executive vice president of television production and development and Ken Raskoff, senior vice president of television production and development will oversee production on behalf of the studio.

Jocelyn Diaz, executive vice president of original programming, will oversee production on behalf of Epix, which MGM took full control of earlier this year.

“Joël Dicker’s exquisite thriller, The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair, has captivated a worldwide audience with its complicated tale of love and lies. I am thrilled that this first class ensemble cast led by Patrick Dempsey and the incomparable director Jean-Jacques Annaud, get to bring provocative page-turner to life,” said Steve Stark, MGM’s president of television production and development.